Strong first half lifts Phoenix

MURPHY — Phoenix bolted to an early lead, then held tough for a 20-8 football victory over Hidden Valley Friday in the Skyline Conference opener.

MURPHY — Phoenix bolted to an early lead, then held tough for a 20-8 football victory over Hidden Valley Friday in the Skyline Conference opener.

The Pirates (4-1, 1-0 Sky) got two rushing touchdowns from Tyson Morris and built a 20-0 edge by halftime.

They failed to reach the end zone again but shut out the Mustangs (2-3, 0-1) until late in the contest.

"We came out of the gate fast on offense and defense," said Phoenix coach Toby Walker, "then struggled a bit in the second half. We had a hard time sustaining drives. Some of the credit has to go to Hidden Valley. Their kids came out and played real tough in the second half."

Morris rushed for 109 yards on 21 carries as the Pirates rolled up 170 yards on the ground.

He sandwiched scoring runs of 2 and 3 yards around a long touchdown pass. Quarterback Justin McCreadie hit Triston Hay for a 67-yard strike.

"Tyson ran the ball real hard tonight," said Walker.

Phoenix was close to putting a couple more TDs on the board in the second half, he said, but penalties, mishaps and plays by the Mustangs thwarted them.

"We did what we needed to do to come out on the right side of the score," said Walker, "but the kids know they're capable of better.

"We can definitely build on this game. We didn't feel like we played our best game, but sometimes a lot of great experience comes from something like this."

McCreadie was 7 of 19 for 144 yards. Hay had two catches for 96 yards.

Miles Alfred caught a 9-yard TD pass from Michael Hults for Hidden Valley's score. Jacob Castro had 16 rushes for 69 yards for the Mustangs.

Phoenix 14 6 0 0 — 20

Hidden Valley 0 0 0 8 — 8

P — Morris 2 run (Bazan kick)

P — Hay 67 pass from McCreadie (Bazan kick)

P — Morris 3 run (kick failed)

HV — Alfred 9 pass from Hults (Miles pass from Hults)

MAZAMA 30, NORTH VALLEY 6 — At Klamath Falls, Mazama unleashed a powerful ground game in the Skyline triumph.

The Vikings (3-2, 1-0 Sky) ran for 311 yards, getting 146 on 24 carries from Jonathan Munoz. Munoz scored on runs of 2 and 3 yards in the first quarter.

Joey Lancaster finished off the scoring for Mazama, scoring on runs of 27 and 2 yards. He ran 13 times for 81 yards. Sylvester Hall added 66 ground yards.

Parker made two catches for 63 yards and a score and carried the ball 12 times for 61 yards and two TDs for the Challengers, who held Gold Beach scoreless for three quarters.

Parker made field goals of 47 and 20 yards.

Quarterback Seth Knox completed 11 of his 16 passes for 267 yards, two touchdowns — a 26-yard scoring strike to Parker and a 30-yard TD to Kenny Laws — and an interception. He found seven different receivers.

Jake Brown had an 85-yard kickoff return for a score and ran in a 9-yard TD for the Challengers.

Dante Olson had nine tackles, including one for loss, and T.J. Alvarez recorded eight tackles, one for loss, and one sack.

Stephen Joffer chipped in five tackles, two for loss.

Cascade Christian, which finished with 441 total yards, held Gold Beach to 16 rushing yards in the second half after entering intermission with a 30-27 advantage.

Gold Beach 0 27 0 0 — 27

Cascade Christian 9 21 14 3 — 47

CC — Brown 9 run (run failed)

CC — FG C. Parker 20

GB — Carter 65 pass from Maxwell (Hensley run)

CC — Brown 85 kickoff return (Olson pass from Furst)

GB — Carter 9 run (run failed)

GB — Carter 59 pass from Maxwell (Schuck kick)

CC — Parker 1 run (pass failed)

GB — Salcedo 7 run (run failed)

CC — C. Parker 26 pass from Knox (C. Parker kick)

CC — C. Parker 4 run (C. Parker kick)

CC — Laws 30 pass from Knox (C. Parker kick)

CC — FG C. Parker 47

SOUTH UMPQUA 56, ILLINOIS VALLEY 29 — At Cave Junction, James Thompson ran for two scores and C.J. Manning had a pair of touchdowns for Illinois Valley (3-2) in nonleague play.

Myles Hodge hauled in a TD pass from Manning against South Umpqua (2-3).

LOST RIVER 44, ROGUE RIVER 0 — At Rogue River, Lost River (3-2) cruised in nonleague action against Rogue River (0-5).

District 2

PROSPECT 34, HOSANNA CHRISTIAN 28 — At Klamath Falls, Prospect's defense forced eight turnovers and found a second-half surge behind Will Hatley to come from behind for the District 2 victory.

The first of Hatley's three second-half touchdowns was a 65-yard punt return that gave the Cougars (3-2, 2-1 Dist. 2) their first lead and one they would maintain, 18-16. Hatley also caught a 27-yard touchdown pass and returned a fumble 30 yards for a score during the Cougars' 28-point fourth quarter. He added two of Prospect's four interceptions.

Darren Stillwagon ran for two touchdowns in the first half and tossed a pair of TDs in the second half. He threw for 90 yards and ran for 93.

The Cougars' Kevin Anderson caught a touchdown, ran for another and had two fumble recoveries.

Prospect 6 6 6 28 — 46

Hosanna Christian 10 6 0 6 — 22

HC — Safety, intentional grounding in the end zone

HC — Balin 3 pass from Hetrick (Balin run)

P — Stillwagon 35 run (run failed)

HC — Balin 2 run (pass failed)

P — Stillwagon 10 run (pass failed)

P — Hatley 65 punt return (run failed)

P — Anderson 21 pass from Stillwagon (Hatley from Stillwagon)

P — Hatley 27 pass from Stillwagon (pass failed)

P — Hatley 30 fumble return (Hatley from Stillwagon)

HC — Flowers 19 pass from Hetrick (run failed)

P — Anderson 12 run (pass failed)

ELKTON 56, BUTTE FALLS 6 — At Elkton, Jared McGonagle's 50-yard interception return for a score in the second quarter was the highlight of Butte Falls' night in rainy District 2 action against Elkton (4-1, 3-1 Dist. 2).

The Loggers dropped to 0-5, 0-4 in league play.

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